Law Enforcement address juvenile reform efforts in Maryland
Reform Reduces Retention: Juvenile Justice
MARYLAND – Juveniles and justice, retention or reform, words that have the community wondering how we address children who commit crimes.
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services announced the launch of the Commission on Juvenile Justice Reform to review and report on juvenile services. This commission comes after House Bill 814 was signed into law by Governor Wes Moore back in May. The goal is to make Maryland safer by holding youth who commit crimes accountable, while also offering rehabilitative support. This begs the question, does rehabilitation prevent retention?
Under the new law, minors as young as 10 years old can be charged as adults when it comes to certain crimes. The new commission looks to get to the bottom of what can help curb crime among youth in the state of Maryland. But does reform really reduce retention?
Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli says if we don’t know the reasons, we can’t have reform. “We all have to work together, and we all play a pivotal role in helping to mold and guide our youth in the appropriate direction. “When a minor offends, we have to find out the why. Why did this happen? Is there an underlying factor? In a lot of these circumstances, when a minor offends, that’s a symptom of something that’s occurred in their life.”
The Maryland Department of Juvenile Services report that announced the new commission read in part quote:
“The Department is continuing to develop meaningful ways to engage youth and families in policy, including via youth roundtables in facilities that meet regularly to share feedback on residential operations, and by engaging youth in the community at our Evening Reporting Centers to gather their feedback on the agency’s strategic plan…” End quote
Many times, children of color are often put through the justice system more when compared to their white counterparts. Police are in many cases the first to interact with them and can deescalate. Sheriff Crisafulli says they aren’t in the business of just locking kids up… their department treats everyone with respect. “We don’t respond to any particular race, we respond to incidents, and all of our children are extremely important to all of us… Each incident is unique, and each incident is different, but all of our children, should have the same resources across the board.”
He says the goal is to rehabilitate, not retain. “The ultimate goal should be, when that minor turns 18 that their juvenile past is behind them, and that they can move forward, and hopefully, not re-offend as a minor or be an adult offender.” Sherrif Crisafulli suggests that parents continue to police their children’s social media pages, because unfortunately many kids have been streaming crimes live online, and this can be dangerous for everyone.
The commission also mentioned looking into CHINS or child-in-need-of-supervision petitions to help children who need more care and attention at home. You can get more information on their website.
